Moving On
by ItsMeEvie
Summary: This couldn't be the end of everything that they had worked towards; this couldn't be the end of a partnership that had spanned their teens and early twenties. They were supposed to grow old together, they were supposed to whether the formidable teen years of their children's together, they were supposed to work, fret, and argue together for...forever. Forever was forever...right?
1. Chapter 1

Adrien dragged a hand down his face, tiredly trying to make out what he could do. When he had married his wife, Marinette, six years ago, he hadn't expected to be left alone with four children. Neither of them had expected this to happen, actually. His wife's body had been taken away before he could react, and now he held newborn Astoria as Hugo, Louis, and Emma clung to his khakis. None of them had expected this. When the doctor had told Adrien to go get his children, he hadn't known what to expect. When they had gotten back, he wasn't prepared for the doctor to tell them that they had to say goodbye. Neither was Adrien prepared for the doctor to pull him aside and tell him that one of the twins, Aster, wasn't going to make it. The shock that had taken over his body had left him almost paralyzed. Only Emma's cries had pulled him out of his catatonic state.

When Alya had shown up, tears streaming in mascara smearing lines down her face, with Nino right behind her, it really hit him. He was now responsible for four children, one of them not even a day old, and the woman who held his heart wasn't there. The panic that had taken over his heart in such a rush couldn't be dislodged. His world seemed to stand still, the moment freezing as the full force of what had happened hit him. Alya's gentle attempts to pry Astoria from his arms want unnoticed as he hugged his infant daughter close. This couldn't be the end of everything that they had worked towards; this couldn't be the end of a partnership that had spanned their teens and early twenties. They were supposed to grow old together, they were supposed to whether the formidable teen years of their children's together, they were supposed to work, fret, and argue together for…for...for forever. Forever wasn't short, it wasn't defined. It wasn't…it wasn't supposed to be ended by death. Adrien's grief filled eyes met Alya's, and he started to cry.

Four years later

Adrien groaned as his ten year old son poked his side.

"Dad"

"Sleep, Hugo, is a blessing"

"Dad"

"Hugo"

"DAD!" Adrien groaned; he hated waking up to this. It wasn't that he didn't love his children, but when Hugo was sent into get him, usually that meant that something was wrong. He finally opened a bleary eye and looked at his son,

"Yeah?"

"Astoria's crying again. I've tried everything." Adrien's eyes flew opened. His youngest was the one he worried about the most. She was the one who he had had the most trouble taking care of, as he had struggled with grief, doubt, and depression with the passing of his wife. Alya had been the best help he could have asked for, taking the older three for extended periods of time and helping with Astoria when Adrien hadn't known what to do with the infant. As time had passed, the family of five had transitioned, with Hugo and his twin brother Louis stepping up whenever they could. Emma, Adrien's now eight year old daughter had become self sufficient early on. The older three tried to help their father with their baby sister, but in the end, Adrien had often had to interfere.

"Give me five minutes to get dressed and out of bed, and I'll be down." Adrien hadn't realized how much of a sucker he was for his children until Nino had pointed it out recently. Whenever they called to him, begging for help, he always answered, rushing home to care for them. He had given up, two years ago, and had claimed one of the unused rooms as an office. His children, although frustrated that they had to respect "dad's work space" thrived under more direct care from their father, and less babysitting from Alya and Chloe. Not to say that Adrien wasn't grateful for his friends' help, but he had found that the two women were incredibly accomplished in the art of hovering. Since he had taken over the business side of his father fashion house, Adrien's work load wasn't predictable, and always changed depending on what season it was. Recently, Adrien had been blessed with a quiet lull between seasons.

As he buttoned his grey shirt, tried to navigate the death-trap that the stairs were, and tried to get a grasp of the situation five minutes later, Adrien once again longed for his wife. In instances like these, she would have been much better suited to handling the children. Hugo was standing in the kitchen, trying to entice his baby sister into calming down with her favorite foods. In the living room, Louis and Emma were trying to work on the homework that they had been assigned. Adrien had a sneaking suspicion that this was one of the weekends that would lead to a call from the twins' teacher at the private school the older three went to. The call, he supposed, would pertain to potential cheating. Adrien, however, know that his sons weren't…cheating…they just helped each other on busy weekends.

"Hugo. I'll get Astoria, got work on your homework."

"Dad, it's-"

"Go. You need to spend some time with your other siblings."

"Yes sir." Adrien sighed as he watched his son slump away, before turning back to his four year old daughter. There was no argument that she was a daddy's girl in every sense of the word. As he picked her up, she quieted down, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Daddy."

"Hey princess. I've got you." Her blond hair was loose, tumbling down her back, and her deep blue eyes, so much like her mothers, were tired. "Next time, instead of waking up Hugo, come get me, ok?" Her eyes widened guilty,

"But-but-but DADDY! Hugo said to let you sleep!" Adrien made a mental note to thank his son for his extra sleep, before turning back to his youngest.

"It IS good to listen to your brothers-BOTH of them- but every now and then; I DO enjoy spending time with my little Princess." Astoria giggled happily, as Adrien slowly settled her in her chair. "Now, why don't you finish this tantalizing breakfast that your brother made for you"

In the other room, Adrien found his other children working together. Louis was working with Emma on her math homework, while Hugo copied his brother's mostly correct work. The stab of guilt that Adrien felt as he watched his children wasn't new; quickly, he sent Hugo and Louis to the kitchen to work on their homework together. His daughter looked at him in confusion. He could already see the cogs working behind her green eyes as she tried to determine what she had done to get herself in trouble. It was another slap in the face for Adrien as he recognized what she was thinking. He promised himself, again, that he would devote more time to his middle child, before sitting down next to her on the floor and tackling her 2nd grade math work.

The next day

Adrien walked into the front office of his children's school and smiled nervously. He had just dropped Astoria off with her Godmother, Chloe, and had decided to take Emma out for lunch. When his Daughter came into the office, he couldn't help but laugh at the joy in her eyes that came from receiving special attention from her father. When they got out to his car, Emma looked around, and asked quietly, "Daddy, am I in trouble?" Adrien looked at the eight year old in shock.

"Emma, what gives you that idea?"

"Well, usually, the only time Hugo and Louis get pulled out of school is when they're in trouble." Adrien blinked.

"Oh kitten," Emma giggled at the special nickname he used for her, "I'm not mad at you. I just wanted to spend time with you…and I know how much you like that café down the street." Emma perked up at the mention of her favorite café. Adrien had refused to take the twins or Astoria there, and saved it as a treat for himself and Emma. Recently, they hadn't been able to go because of his schedule, so he had made the decision that it was time for a dad and daughter date.


	2. Chapter 2

_**I do not own miraculous ladybug. Sorry I didn't put this in yesterday…oooppppppps.**_

Four years later

Adrien looked at the clock as he shrugged off his jacket and threw it on the bed. His 14 year old boys were downstairs, trying to keep their baby sister busy. Emma was going to be home from her friends soon, and he needed to make sure that the cake that his boys had made (with Astoria's help, of course.) was edible. His eight year old could be heard from the kitchen, where she was trying to beg a taste of icing from her older brothers. Adrien winced, as he realized exactly how spoiled Astoria was. It hadn't been on purpose, he was sure of that. Over the years, each of his children had grown attached to one of his friends. The twins lived for spending time with Nino, Emma was attached to Chloe like a leech, and Astoria had grown up going back and forth from Alya's. Paired with the fact that the Lahiffes had grown accustomed to taking three of the Agreste children each week, Adrien was sure that Alya was to blame for the way his Princess was acting. "Dad! Emma just texted. She's almost home!" Adrien cursed his wandering mind, and clattered down the stairs, hoping there wasn't too much that needed him for damage control.

Emma was not disappointed by the surprise party that they had thrown. Adrien was fairly sure, however, that his 12 year old wasn't expecting him to pull her aside afterwards. "Emma, I have something special for you," Adrien started, before hesitating. He and Marinette had never talked about what would happen to their miraculoui. Over the past bit, he had been playing with giving one of the children his wife's earrings, but he knew that neither of his girls was suited for them. His ring, currently sliver, burned slightly on his finger. He and Plagg had had a long conversation that had stretched long into the night, the previous evening. The Kwami, though sad to be losing one of his favorite cats, was content to stay in the household and protect Adrien's Kitten. It had already been decided that none of the others would know about the stones, and Adrien had never used his ring while in the presence of his children. "I've had this since I was a few year older than you, and it's always protected me. Take good care of it, ok?" Adrien held out his ring to his daughter, and watched her awe, as she touched the cool metal. It was well known in the household that dad NEVER took off his ring. Now, he was giving it to…Emma.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Kitten?"

"Why are you giving me your ring?"

"Because its time." Adrien tried to hold the sadness back in his voice as he watched his daughter slide on the ring and jump as it adjusted to her delicate fingers. As the duo watched, the ring glowed green briefly, before a slightly more feminine cut appeared in the place of the ring Adrien had worn for so long.

"Hey kid," a dry voice said, "just because I'm not YOUR responsibility, you can't get out of getting my cheese." Adrien let out a laugh as his Kwami crossed his tiny arms and narrowed green eyes at him. Emma jumped, and let out a squeak.

"DAD! Its…its…it's a CAT! A TINY FLYING CAT" Plagg faced the girl and raised a nonexistent eyebrow.

"I'm not a cat, I'm a Kwami, and you are the new Chat Noir. Now, please get me some cheese."

It didn't take Emma long to figure out what was going on, and having her dad in on the secret made it even better. When she looked up the information that was online about Chat Noir, Emma had screamed. She had made the connection to her parents immediately. With the information she had been given, she resolved to do her dad proud.

Two years later

Hugo and Louis, both now 16, stared at the ground with matching frowns. They had been at school, and had been called out for talking in class, again. This time, they had been threatened with a kicker; the principal was calling their father. It was an unspoken rule among the four Agreste children that they must do everything in their power to make sure that dad didn't get disturbed when he was at work. The two hadn't been doing anything wrong, per say. Louis had been explaining to Hugo what had happened during class yesterday when the elementary school had called to tell him that Astoria was sick. Since Emma couldn't drive, and their father's assistant, Andrea, had agreed to give Hugo's name as the primary emergency contact, the twins had made a deal. Louis stayed behind so that he could get the work for the both of them (and many time, he ended up doing both sets of work. Luckily, the boys had similar handwriting.) and Hugo went to handle whatever problem had arisen. Usually, Emma was able to take care of herself, so Hugo was called out to take care of Astoria more than his other sister. Many times, the twins would be busy when they got home, so Louis would catch Hugo up on what he had missed on the drive to their school, and between classes. This time, Hugo had gotten in late, after convincing Emma to take a turn with Astoria. The boys had fervently tried to make up the missed time, but Hugo was still missing the fundamentals of the Chemistry lecture from the day before. Louis had frantically tried to give Hugo as much help as he could, but the notes he had given him wouldn't be enough. Their predicament led to their Literature teacher catching them talking in the back of the class. Now, they were waiting for their father to arrive, and when he did, they braced themselves for the storm that would follow.

When Adrien walked into the office, his eye caught on the guilty face of his twin boys. The looks of fear on their face made him want to laugh. They really thought that they were in trouble, didn't they? Andrea had caught him before he had left the office, and explained to him what had happened the day before. If anything, Adrien should be the one in trouble, for not noticing all that his boys did for him. After collecting them from school, he slid the car into the traffic of Paris. It was time to go spend some time with his boys.

It hadn't occurred to Adrien until he had been on his way to pick up his sons that they were going to be 18 in two years. The shock that he had felt at the prospect of his sons going to collage hadn't hit him until just then, when he had been told that his 16 YEAR OLDS were in trouble.

A/N

Soooooo…hi?

I'm alive, I promise! I've been gone for awhile, because I had two shows, back to back, then my class had to put on graduation for the seniors. (Hey! They're gone! FINALLY!) Oh! And I ended up breaking up with my boyfriend…yeah. It's been a busy month and a half…sorry. *smiles sheepishly* does it help that when I was at Momo Con in Atlanta, I cosplayed a 1950's LB?

ANYWAYS

I'm back, and I'm hoping to get the rest of Storm up before the end of June. (I'll be flying to Boston, and I'm not taking my computer, so I may be MIA for a bit…don't worry, I'm not falling off the face of the earth again.) That said, starting the 12th, I should get on a good update schedule. ALSO, I'm hoping to get a few more one shots up, before I leave, and then a bunch, when I get back.

Ok, I'm a horrible person, goodbye.

~ME


End file.
